INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY- WHAT WE OWE. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU MAY THINK

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY- WHAT WE OWE. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU MAY THINK2018-03-082018-03-08https://silviakratzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/logo-smallest.pngSilvia Kratzerhttps://silviakratzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/screen-shot-2018-03-08-at-6.48.33-am-2.jpg200px200px

nternational Women’s Day reminds us that the majority of our fellow sisters live in servitude, struggle daily with poverty, war, rape, sex slavery. They don’t own their body.

Sure we have our struggles in the so-called ‘first world’ countries. But we owe more to our sisters!

We owe them to make a difference.

But How?

The problems seem overwhelming.

What we owe:

Petitions to sign

Donations to make

Sponsor a female child otherwise condemned to slavery.

The list goes on…

And all these are massive contributions. Don’t get me wrong.

But we OWE more!

As a young child I desperately wanted to be a runway model. These gorgeous creatures seemed to have overcome ugliness, need, dependence. They lived in another world, one of elegance and beauty born of a higher vision where all the problems that beset us women seem to not exist. They gave me a vision of what Woman I could be. The woman I wanted to be.

I never became a fashion model. And that’s alright. Because I discovered we are all called to be models. That is, to live a higher vision in our lives. To not settle for what is on offer. To rise above and carve out our own expectations and our own destiny.

I will never be someone to bash fashion models for giving us a ‘distorted’ view of women. It’s not about being skinny or bougie enough to wear a 20 k couture dress or gliding around in 10 inch heels. No, not that. What they gave me is a higher vision of what women can be. We can walk down the runway of life celebrating our own beauty, our own higher vision, our own independence..

And its never just about one women. Fashion shows involve model after model showing us each their own unique beauty, celebrating individual style and self-expression. I can hear some groaning that it’s all just an illusion and a fantasy.

I beg to differ. Fantasy is a vision we need to grasp a hold of. If we can’t fantasize and envision a life far beyond what we have experienced or were raised to expect from life, we can never grow into the highest expression of who we are meant to be.

So I am proud to be a model. For Priscilla the 5 year old girl I sponsor in Ghana (that’s a photo of Priscilla above) my life must seem a fantasy out of grasp for her now. But if nothing else, perhaps it gives her a vision of what is possible. In her own unique way. Not to imitate but to mentor. And mentorship is not just about money. It’s about modeling a new life vision. To lead along the path, out of various forms of servitude and instead stepping into the vision we were meant to be all along.

For us, there is no excuse to just stay at the level we are at. No matter where you live in the world. Like a plant we are meant to grow and reach for a higher vision and version of ourselves. And at the end, this is not just for us as individuals. THIS is what we owe. To not settle but to grow each day into models of a higher vision of ourselves that is what we owe to our sisters around the globe.

We do not live our lives just for ourselves. And because we live our lives as models to others what we owe is to step into the fullest expression of our own lives. To live a gorgeous, abundant and fulfilled life is what we owe to the world.

I’d love to know: What fantasy life did you have as a child? Who is your model in life that inspires you to stretch beyond and grow into the Woman You Want To Be?